What to put inside of coop

[leck8]

I'm new to haveing chickens and I'm wondering if I should put straw on the floor of my coop or just leave it grass and dirt and also should I use in laying boxes or use pine shavings?

 

[ksandvig]

I have straw in nesting boxes & on the coop floor I have pine shavings along w Natures bedding stall pellets that break down to a compost material. The bedding is a new thing for me so far working out great no smell! My girls only sleep/lay in their coop.

 

[leck8]

Ok thank you how often do you clean your coop out I'm planning on getting 20-25 chickens but they will free range all day

 

[PoultryBird12]

I have woodchips in my coop and occasionally I put hay in. I find hay annoying, because it gets wet and they eat it all up. I put about an inch of woodchips in my coop after I clean it. I clean it about three times a week, but not all the way, sometimes I do 5 minute check up cleaning every day or every other day. Then, about once a month, I take everything out of the coop and throw it away and put entirely new chips in. Don't use chips that are too thin or small, for you chickens could eat it, and it clogs their crops and they can die. If you use chips and notice that one of your chickens crops is really big, take their water and put some vinegar in it. Do this for a couple days and after a while, the crop should get cleared out. Personally, I don't like hay or straw. Woodchips have worked GREAT with me ever since I got my chickens.

 

[Memeschix]

I have sand in my coop and run. It is so much easier to keep clean. And I have hay in my nesting boxes.

 

[Memeschix]

Forgot to tell you I clean everywhere every day. It helps with the flies and really only takes about 15 minutes. Time I spend interacting with my girls.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

I have a dirt floor in my henhouse and I use dried grass from after I mow the yard, in the nest boxes. Might not be the best thing to use in the world but it's free.

 

[smcdermott]

Memeschix <<<< What do you use to sift the sand and clean?

 

[Memeschix]

If you go to The Chicken-Chick.com & Do a search on chicken coop bedding: sand, the litter superstar, there are directions on how to make what I call a giant pooper scooper. It's a neat article about the pro's of us using sand in your coop. The scooper is made from hardware cloth wrapped around a plastic pitchfork. It works really well. I use that plus a kids metal rake to get the poop onto the scoop, then I dump it all into a Home Depot bucket that we empty onto a compost pile twice a week. I highly recommend using sand. And my chickens love to dig in it for their dirt baths and looking for roots of old sod.

 

[smcdermott]

Thanks so much